
8.
What significant events marked
the last week of activity before the
Flood? Gen. 7:1-9, 13-15.
NoTE.—Noah's last solemn appeal was re-
jected. But then what a scene! "Beasts of
every description, the fiercest as well as
the most gentle, were seen coming from
mountain and forest, and quietly making
their way toward the ark. A noise as of a
rushing wind was heard, and lo, birds were
flocking from all directions, their numbers
darkening the heavens, and in perfect order
they passed to the ark. . . . The world
looked on in wonder, some in fear. . . . As
the doomed race beheld the sun shining in
its glory, and the earth clad in almost Eden
beauty, they banished their rising fears by
boisterous merriment, and by their deeds
of violence they seemed to invite upon
themselves the visitation of the already
awakened wrath of
God."—Patriarchs and
Prophets,
pages 97, 98.
9.
When the appointed time ar-
rived and all was in readiness, what
signal act of God occurred? Gen.
7:16.
.
NoTE.—"The massive door, which it was
impossible for those within to close, was
slowly swung to its place by unseen hands.
Noah was shut in, and the rejecters of
God's mercy were shut
out."—Patriarchs
and Prophets,
page 98. How vividly this
suggests another tragic scene described by
Christ! His words are these: "And they
that were ready went in with Him to the
marriage: and the door was shut." Matt.
25:10.
The Voice of the Elements
10.
How widespread and appalling
was the ruin caused by the Flood?
Gen. 7:11, 12, 17-24.
NoTE.—"The entire surface of the earth
was changed at the Flood. . . . The earth
presented an appearance of confusion and
desolation impossible to describe. The
mountains, once so beautiful in their per-
fect symmetry, had become broken and ir-
regular. Stones, ledges, and ragged rocks
were now scattered upon the surface of the
earth. In many places, hills and mountains
had disappeared, leaving no trace where
they once stood; and plains had given place
to mountain ranges. These changes were
more marked in some places than in others.
Where once had been earth's richest treas-
ures of gold, silver, and precious stones,
were seen the heaviest marks of the curse."
—Patriarchs and Prophets,
pages 107, 108.
11.
How do geology, history, and
archaeology testify to the Biblical ac-
count of the Flood?
ANSWER.—(a)
"What wonders of a
strange but perished world the fossils re-
veal! But as we examine them, whether
they be found in America, Europe, Asia, or
Australia, or any other place on the face
of the earth, they all tell one and the same
story, and that is a sudden, wholesale de-
struction followed by an immediate burial.
Only one force known to man is capable
of accomplishing that, and that force is
water. Hence we conclude that the fossils
found in every part of the world constitute
convincing evidence for the Biblical Flood."
—Alfred M. Rehwinkel,
The Flood,
page
237.
(b)
The celebrated Jewish historian, Jo-
sephus, who lived in the first century of
our era, wrote, "All the writers of barbarian
histories make mention of this Flood," fol-
lowing which he presents the names of
several historians who lived in various an-
cient lands and wrote of the Deluge. See
Antiquities of the Jews,
b. 1, ch. 3, par. 6.
(c)
From the dust heaps of antiquity,
archaeology yields a vast array of confirma-
tory evidence. Those ancient inscriptions
on clay tablets describe, though some-
what imperfectly, the great Flood, the ship
of refuge, its construction, the passengers
and animals aboard, the tempest and de-
struction of life, the cessation of rain, the
receding floods, the resting of the ship upon
a mountain, the sending forth of the birds,
the exit from the ship, the altar of sacrifice,
and many other details. See Alfred M. Reh-
winkel,
The Flood,
chapter 10.
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